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Below are some of the bills filed this week that KSBA will be watching. The status of bills were current as of the publication of this newsletter. If available, bill titles are linked to the Legislative Research Commission website.
HB 208: Public funds for non-public schools
A bill was filed this week by Rep. Josh Calloway, R-Irvington, that, if passed, would put a constitutional amendment on the ballot asking voters whether or not public funds could be used for private/non-public education. The amendment, if passed, asks voters whether the state should “provide for a portion of the educational costs for parents of students outside of that common school system.”
The bill also states that “Sections 184 to 189 of this Constitution shall not prevent, nor require a further referendum for, any provision for the educational costs of students outside of the system of common schools for parents of limited financial means, as determined by law, so long as no such funds are taken directly from the common school fund.”
By the numbers: In KSBA’s 2024 Legislative Issues Survey of members, 63% of respondents were opposed to putting such a constitutional amendment on the ballot while 27% would support leaving the matter up to voters.
This bill has not yet been assigned to a committee.
HB 227: School district mergers
Legislation filed by Rep. James Tipton, R-Taylorsville, would allow mergers of any two contiguous districts. Under the bill, a school board could vote to merge with another district, but if that district does not agree, the question would be put to voters. The bill also give authority to the state in the case of insolvent districts: “if a school district cannot meet its current operating expenses from projected revenue and cannot negotiate a merger with a contiguous school district, the Kentucky Board of Education shall determine and direct the merger of the insolvent school district with a contiguous district and the terms of the merger.”
This bill has not yet been assigned to a committee.
SB 8: Selection of Kentucky Board of Education members
Sen. Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green, filed a bill that would make drastic changes to the selection of members of the Kentucky Board of Education (KBE). SB 8 would eliminate the current gubernatorial appointment process and, instead, require partisan primaries and elections for KBE members, with seats for each of Kentucky’s seven Supreme Court districts.
“Each governor since KERA was implemented over three decades ago has leveraged, and some might say abused, their gubernatorial power with the Kentucky Board of Education,” Wilson said in a release. “It’s time we returned the power to the residents of the commonwealth.”
Gov. Andy Beshear expressed opposition to the bill during his Thursday press conference, citing the state constitution and the 1989 Rose Decision.
“We don't have partisan school board races and they're trying to create a partisan Board of Education,” he said. “That's just a really bad idea.”
The bill also prohibits individuals from running if they have served on a local school board in the previous four years, but makes no such restrictions for any other former elected officials.
By the numbers: If the legislation were to pass, Kentucky would become only one of about half a dozen states that hold partisan elections for state board of education members. Learn more about how each state selects their state boards of education members from the NASBE State Education Governance Matrix.
In KSBA’s 2024 Legislative Issues Survey of members, 83% of respondents indicated “there is currently too much partisan politics in public education” while 2% indicated “there is not enough partisan politics in public education.”
The bill has been assigned to the Senate State & Local Government Committee
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